MALES transitioning into females will no longer be allowed to compete in world track and field competitions.
That’s a hard pill to swallow, so to speak, as it affects transgender athletes around the world. And it can stoke outrage from women’s rights defenders fighting discrimination against “transitioners.”
This recent decision by the World Athletics Council (WAC) also affected athletes with Differences in Sex Development (DSD).
There are currently 13 high-level DSD runners, including high-profile Caster Semenya, a two-time Olympic champion at 800 meters.
WAC president Sebastian Coe said Semenya has been barred in that event since 2019.
While Semenya, the South African winner of three world championships in women’s 800 meters, and the 12 other DSDs had been previously able to compete in events outside the range of 400 meters through one mile, they are now required to undergo hormone-suppressing treatment for six months before competition starts.
Coe, himself a former Olympic 1,500-m champion, said there are no “easy answers” on this topic.
“All the decisions we’ve taken have their challenges,” Coe told Associated Press. “If that’s the case, then we will do what we have done in the past, which is to vigorously defend our positions. And the overarching principle for me is we will always do what we think is in the best interest of our sport.”
But athletes like Semenya and Olympic 200-m silver medalist Christine Mboma of Namibia are unique cases as they are not transgender.
Semenya and Mboma were legally identified as female at birth. However, their medical condition showed they have some male traits, including high levels of testosterone that give them manly powers.
The WAC said that gives both the same kind of unfair advantage as transgender runners over biologically-born female athletes.
Semenya said she dreams of joining the 2024 Paris Olympics but insists she will never go into testosterone-suppressing methods again after having gone through it a decade ago under different rules.
Mboma, who won her silver in Tokyo 2020 Games, must also undergo hormone therapy, which should suppress her testosterone levels below 2.5 nanomoles per liter of blood for six months, to qualify for Paris 2024.
It’s a testy issue, indeed, as even world swimming rules had also banned DSDs from pool events.
As parents, or as relatives of a competitor, would you agree with the new rules?
If you ask me, yes, I agree. A male has no business competing in a female event.
THAT’S IT It’s Lent. Let’s lend our ears once again to our Lord Jesus Christ so that we can totally embrace anew the meaning of His suffering on the cross: His endless love for us.
